The conveniences of daily life extend to the kitchen and to the many types of foods available year-round through modern preservation and canning techniques. While a great variety of foodstuffs is available in glass and plastic containers having screw-off lids, even more are available in xe2x80x9ccannedxe2x80x9d form, that is, in a steel can, protected by a very thin coating of tin, and hermetically sealed from the outside environment. These cans are opened by a conventional can opener, which may be a hand-crank, a simple, hand-operated instrument, or an electric can-opener, using an internal electric motor to rotate the can against a cutting surface and thus to open the can. Such electric can openers are commonplace, and are distinguished by their reliability, ease of use, and overall convenience.
However, there is still room for improvement in these appliances, in that some persons, such as those with limited use of their hands, may find such appliances as presently constituted difficult to use. In particular, persons with arthritic conditions may find difficult the process of using a conventional electric can opener. Approaching a typical can opener from the front, the user may not be able to see the point of insertion, a serrated wheel to rotate a can, because it is hidden by a magnet assembly used to retain the severed can lid. To use an electric can opener, most right-handed persons will grasp a can in their left hand and the can opener in the right hand. The right hand is then used to orient and stabilize the can opener, typically by manipulating the opener so the user can see the wheel and more easily access the opener.
The can is then inserted under the serrated rotating wheel, which is operably connected to an electric motor for rotating the can. Once the can is inserted, the control lever is depressed, activating the electric motor to rotate the can against a cutting surface until the lid of the can is severed. It would be a great convenience to persons having limited use of their hands if they could more easily see the wheel and its relationship to the cutting surface, and thus would not need to grasp and rotate the can opener prior to use. Of course, there exist can openers which may be fixed in place, such as large, institutional openers, permanently oriented, but these can openers, being bolted into place, require the user to sacrifice the flexibility that portable appliances offer in a household kitchen. What is needed is an electric can opener that allows the user to see the rotating wheel without turning the can opener, where the can opener is sufficiently stable without being bolted to the counter-top, and also does not take up a great deal of counter space in the kitchen.
This invention solves these problems by means of a new, ergonomic electric can opener. Recognizing that the person opening the can needs to see the rotating wheel without having to turn the can opener is the key to solving the problem. An electric can opener whose base is oriented xe2x80x9csquarexe2x80x9d with a typical countertop, but whose housing is then rotated by about 30 to 90 degrees clockwise to that base, solves the problem.
Conventional can openers are typically square or rectangular in construction, having a front and back, and left and right sides. The base area is usually greater than the cross-sectional area of the housing to provide a stable platform for the can opener. Such a can opener will typically be placed on a kitchen counter-top in a manner that is xe2x80x9csquare with the world,xe2x80x9d i.e., with the back of the can opener facing a back wall of the counter-top, and the front of the can opener toward the front of the counter. An operating lever of such a can opener will then be oriented toward the right side of the can opener, while the cutter and the rotating wheel (the point of insertion of the can) are on the front side.
In the improved can opener of the invention, the user need not grasp the can opener and rotate it. Instead, the housing of the can opener is molded and positioned at an angle to the suggested orientation of the molded base. Thus, when the user approaches the countertop and the can opener upon it, the user can see the serrated rotating wheel, and the point of insertion of the can into the can opener. The serrated wheel is on a surface on the user""s left, while the operating lever is on a surface to the user""s right. Instead of having to grasp and turn the can opener, the user lifts the operating lever, positions the can into its point of insertion, and depresses the operating lever to begin the process of opening the can. At the same time, a base of the can opener has features that are xe2x80x9csquare with the worldxe2x80x9d for easy orientation by the user with an external feature, such as a front edge of the countertop or the tabletop.
One embodiment of the invention is an ergonomic, electric can opener comprising a base and a housing mounted on top of the base. The base may be square or rectangular, with its front and back sides parallel to each other and positioned parallel to a countertop upon which the can opener is placed. In this orientation, the left and right sides of the base are perpendicular to the front and back sides, and are also perpendicular to the front edge of the countertop. The housing may be square or rectangular, and is mounted on top of the base, but is rotated through a vertical axis about 45 degrees from the base. That is, the entire top, along with the operable features of the can opener, is rotated about 45 degrees clockwise from its conventional position. The can opener further comprises a feed wheel operably connected to a motor and a switch for operating the motor, and an operating lever. The feed wheel and the operating lever, along with a cutting surface mounted on the housing, constitute the operable features of the invention.